


Vore And Loathing At The Oreburgh Gym

by Matrioshka_City



Series: Artemis' REVORESION (spinoff) [6]
Category: Pocket Monsters Diamond-Pearl Legend: Pokémon DP | Pokemon Diamond and Pearl Adventure!, Pocket Monsters: Black & White | Pokemon Black and White Versions
Genre: Belly Kink, Belly Rubs, Bullying, Comedy, Digestion, F/M, Funny, Gym, Stockholm Syndrome, Stuffed, Vore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-30
Updated: 2020-07-01
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:53:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24997891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Matrioshka_City/pseuds/Matrioshka_City
Summary: It's Rosa's first day as substitutde gym leader of Oreburgh. She ate the previous gym leader, so now she has to replace him. Hey, I don't make the rules.btw: reading previous chapters isn not entirely necessary, you can jump in wherever.
Series: Artemis' REVORESION (spinoff) [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1780345
Kudos: 3





	1. Vore And Loathing At The Oreburgh Gym (Part1)

~1~

(“Rooosa”), Roark whined, (“What are you doing up there, still? We’re gonna be LATE!”)

Rosa continued applying her make-up, unimpressed. 

“Don’t rush me, Mister. I’m warning you, if even ONE person tells me I look "tired” today, that’ll be on you… and I’ll eat nothing but pineapple for a month. “

("Don’t even joke about that. You haven’t seen what happens to me if I’m even in the same ROOM as one of these things.”)

“Great, so leave me alone and fork over some protein, why don’t you…”

She examined herself in the mirror one more time.

This is it, Rosa, old girl, she thought. Today, after all these years, you’ll become a gym leader. With your very own gym. Sweet mother of mercy.

~2~

Rosa wasn’t about to admit it to Roark, but they were in fact running a bit late. She could do a great many things, but shrewd time management wasn’t one of them. Luckily, the gym was in walking distance from Roark’s house.

Rosa kinda hated how nervous she felt.

The gym was right ahead now, and its bombastic stone entrance, carved into solid bedrock, was surprisingly intimidating for such a backwater location. Rosa had seen bigger and scarier, of course - MUCH bigger and scarier - but today would be the first time she’d have to take CHARGE of one of these things, not enter as a contestant. She took a deep breath and channeled the energy of the child prodigy who had CRUSHED the Unova League, and the woman who had eaten an aspiring movie star as a form of artistic expression. 

(The creature smack in between these two, not so much. Not right now.)

Roark, for his part, was downright giddy at this point. By the time they reached the entrance of the gym, he was bobbing up and down.

Rosa poked her belly. 

“Settle down in there, Mister.”

(“Sorry! Okay, okay… first of all, I need you to rally the troops. I’ll hold a little pep talk… to warm them up for you, get the stones rolling again, so to speak. Ha! Get it? The stones? Rolling?”)

“I… I don’t get it, actually.”

(“Yeah, weird. It feels like that SHOULD be some sort of reference. Anyway, please go into my office and sound the siren…”)

Wasn’t HE in a talkative mood, this fine morning? But hey, why not - it’s not like he got to feel important every day, these days. You’ve got to throw ‘em a bone, every once in a while...

Rosa did as instructed, and a few minutes later, she was waiting for the crew in the central hall. She felt better now than she had at the entrance, but seeing the crew silently gather around like a school class was still… vaguely uncomfortable. 

She raised her hand for a quick wave, as they were staring at her with big, round eyes. 

“Good morning… So, um… I think there’s something Roark wants to say to you…”

Someone coughed. Rosa tilted her head as she listened to Roark again.

(“Okay”), Roark said, (“There now should be 4 people in front of you - Jonathon, Darius, lass Tracy (she’s new), Lenora the Janitor - plus that thing in mineshaft 14, where-nobody-goes. That last one should be nowhere in sight, actually. If it’s in sight, run.”)

“Mhm, yeah”, Rosa said, checking her nails. 

“I’m only counting 3 people, chief.”

(“Tracy, I bet. That’s a known issue. She should be under a pile of rubble somewhere.”)

“Say wha… Oh!” 

Rosa discovered a pair of whimsical yellow boots sticking out of exactly such a pile, only a few feet away.

(“Be a dear and pull her out”), Roark requested. 

After Rosa had done that, and they had given Tracy time to dust off, Roark took a deep breath and began his speech. 

(“Hello to you all! Thank you for coming in today. As you all know, there has been an… incident, while I was abroad, and there’s going to be a few changes, but…”)

Of course, what the crew heard was: “Mhmhmh. Mmmm. Mmmmmhhm - Mhmmmemh…”

“Roark”, Rosa intervened, “I’m not sure they can understand you. You’ll have to speak up.”

Feeling vaguely supportive, she tilted her pelvis a bit, to let him protrude a little further into the room.

(“Okay, then… HELLO ONE AND ALL! THANK YOU FOR… Forget it, there’s no way I’m gonna do a whole speech like that…”)

Roark snapped his fingers. (“I know! I talk to you, and YOU talk to them! Simple yet elegant.”)

Rosa shrugged. “Whatever.” 

She clapped her hands and struck a pose. Offense was the best defense, her old motto. With extra corn! 

“Well then, MINE WORMS! I’m Rosa Gypaetus, Devourer Of Worlds, but more specifically, of your boss, which means I’m your boss NOW! In that spirit, he asked me to relay a message for you. First of all: You’re NEXT, so you better give Rosa all your loot…”

(“I said NO such thing.”)

“Second of all…”

(“Okay, here we go…”)

But there was another interruption.

“Oh, Roark, hold on… Looks like we’ve got our first question from the audience”, Rosa said, “Little Tracy is waving her arms like cray- cy. Yes, Tracy…?”

Tracy, who had read NONE of the emails, phone messages, memos or newspapers, asked: “… What’s with the scary-s lady, Mr. Roark-s, boss…?”

The girl came a few steps closer and tilted her head towards Rosa’s bloated belly, inquisitively. 

Rosa rolled her eyes and pushed Tracy until the kid was once again at a more comfortable distance. 

“I am a RADICAL fashion statement-s, DUH.” She noisily - and reproachfully - cleared her throat again. “Now, where were we: …”

She thought that Roark’s presentation was quite a bit longer than necessary, but Rosa reminded herself that this was probably important for him. At least it gave her time to steady herself some more for the task ahead.

“… In conclusion”, Rosa finished reciting, “please follow Mrs. Gypaetus’ instructions as your substitute gym leader, don’t hesitate to talk to her if you’ve got any questions, and make her feel welcome. These are strange and difficult times, but together, we’ll make it through this, upholding the proud tradition of the Oreburgh gym! Then Roark farted. The End.”

Roark groaned, blushing. 

(“Close enough. THANK YOU, Rosa.”)

“Don’t mention it, buddy”, she said, throwing in a breath mint, against the fart smell.


	2. Vore And Loathing At The Oreburgh Gym (Part 2)

~3~

The next order of business was to inspect the gym’s pokémon.

Rosa released a bunch of them from their pokéballs while Roark slid straight into another lecture.

(“Now, we usually send out geodude and onix. Onix is especially neat, if you have a challenger with a type advantage. Then of course we have a whole herd of cranidos, from the fossil mines…”)

“Cranidos are the ones always banging their heads together, right?", Rosa interrupted, with a little grin, "I heard they are kinda… dumb.”

(“They are SUPER dumb.”), Roark insisted, (“The kids love them. Run all over the place, easy to trick with evasive maneuvers. Very good for beginners. Cranidos were my favorites ever since I was a little boy...”)

They trained with the pokémon for two or three hours, had a few friendly battles, so that Rosa could get a feel for them. She was secretly glad that the noise of the battles drowned out at least some of Roark's lenghty musings.

(“I’ll be honest, I’m kinda impressed how quickly they got used to you") Roark finally said. ("I mean, that’s a good thing, but still.”)

“I have a pet theory about that”, Rosa said with a grin, “They say pokémon go by what’s INSIDE of you… So with our whole… setup here”, she poked her belly, “I think they were confused at first, but now they’ve decided I’m basically just a bigger, better version of you.”

(“...Whatever. I’m glad this is working out.”)

Roark sounded a bit pouty, much to Rosa's satisfaction - it was time to put things back into perspective for him.

Rosa sighed. "That being said, it would be nice if some of the...other staff would warm up to me as well."

She spotted Tracy sitting on a rock nearby, lazily polishing a pokéball as if she hadn't been "observing" Rosa all morning.

"You there! You sure you've got nothing better to do, sweetie?", Rosa said in a faux-motherly tone, "You could start by picking up the pokéballs I used. Mop up the blood? I would do it myself, if I had more of a movement range right now. Also, if I wasn't your boss. Gym drone."

Tracy stared Rosa dead in the eyes and said:

"Your legs are REALLY-s short."

No!, Rosa thought, devastated, that's what I am SENSITIVE about!

Luckily, she managed to keep a straight face.

"More cleaning up, less stalking and creepy off-hand remarks, little one. Chop, chop!" 

(“Please try to go easy on the kid, Rosa”), Roark said, (“Tracy is… special. I found that positive reinforcement works best for her...”)

Rosa sighed as she watched Tracy pick up the mop and get to work with an attitude suggesting she’d rather do anything else.

“Thanks… But she’s MY subordinate now. I think I got this. Speaking of creepy subordinates.... Out of curiosity - if I wanted to spice things up a bit, would you also have some higher-level pokémon for me?”

(“Yeah, no… we’re more of a classic beginner’s gym. What you see is what you get. Of course there’s always the forbidden vault… but those pokémon are for studying and safekeeping only. We don’t use them in battle…”)

While he couldn’t SEE Rosa’s grin widening, he could imagine it all too well.

Roark gulped. 

(“Oh oh. I’ve said too much.”)

Rosa gasped. 

“FORBIDDEN VAULT. Forbidden vault, Roark! Finally some useful info. You can’t tell me this gym’s got something called a “forbidden vault” and then NOT show it to me. That’s not how this works. I’ve got to SEE it, now.“

("It’s locked. There is a combination…”)

“And as gym leader, I ought to know that combination!”

(“Substitute gym leader. Rosa, I’m REALLY not sure about this. Those are some BAD pokes that we’re not supposed to let lose in the gym. Things we never should have dug up in the first place. I’m RESPONSIBLE. I need to be 110% sure I can trust you with this.”)

“Come ooooon! You know me! I can be responsible, and trustworthy! Remember the good times? Forget the bad?”

(“Seriously, I…”)

“Awww…”, Rosa purred reproachfully, swaying her hips, "Cuddle-bump…!”

(“Oh great”), Roark said, (“now you’re cuddle-bumping me again. Bringing out the big guns, huh.”) He groaned. 

(“FINE. Let’s do this.”)

~4~

The vault was located behind a hidden door, in a cellar under the gym leader's office.

"Should we talk about your porcelain Cranidos collection? Since it is covering every flat surface in your office, and all." 

("Not if you want the combination to the vault. But OH, shoot... I forgot!"), Roark gasped theatrically, ("The lock also has voice recognition. I'm not even sure it will recognize my voice now, since it's so muffled and all...")

Roark tried providing a voice sample after Rosa had finished typing in the combination.

The door beeped angrily and stayed locked.

("Dang!"), Roark said in lazily simulated disappointment, ("Too bad. What a shame. The only other people with access are at the laboratory, and I'm not sure they will agree to...")

Rosa rolled her eyes.

"Pffft. Whatever. Let me try something..."

She turned towards the receiver and cleared her throat. 

-"Hello! My name is ROARK! That one time, I farted in a cave, and it smelled so gross it made me cry, and then the cave exploded. The End." 

Roark repressed a scream. The imitation was PERFECT. Rosa was speaking in HIS voice. He could hear his OWN voice up above, and it almost literally scared the poop out of him.

The door to the vault opened up with a friendly chime.

("ROSA! What in the name of all that is deep...?"), Roark gasped.

Rosa chuckled. 

"Pretty nifty, right? I'm pretty good with my voice. Big repertoire. If I listen to someone talk long enough, I can figure it out, no problem. Wanna hear some other impressions?"

("Please no. Another time. Right now I'm wondering if every person I've ever met was secretly you in disguise...")

Smirking, Rosa stepped into the vault, and she knew right away that it had been worth the trip. 

It felt like a magical dungeon, with lamps imitating torches, lots of shadowy niches, scary skulls and bone fragments in glass cases, and an ominous humming sound in the background.

The "forbidden" pokémon were displayed on little pedestals, with descriptive panels next to their pokéballs. Most exhibits also featured little field notes, and even newspaper clippings.

Rosa was drawn to one exhibit in particular - a rare female aerodactyl. The newspaper extract next to the pokéball showed a photo of a menacing shadow with glowing eyes, chasing panicked people through Oreburgh City. 

'PREHISTORIC CARNIVORE TERRORIZING OLD TOWN', the headline read.

Rosa was impressed.

"Roark... Did YOU catch that aerodactyl?"

("Naaah. It was a scientist from the revival lab. But I helped. That was many years ago... Back when my first cranidos evolved... Anyway, that one caused a lot of trouble. Nearly would have murdered us all. We put it through some basic training, with considerable difficulty, but it's still a total wild card. More manageable if it has just been fed. Unfortunately, it seems to crave human flesh, specifically.")

"Fascinating..." Rosa said, slipping the pokéball into her dress pocket.


	3. Vore And Loathing At The Oreburgh Gym (Part 3)

~5~

Rosa was sitting at Roark's desk, studying the files of the group of challengers that were scheduled to arrive at the gym the following day. Three kids, from out of town.

Rosa detected movement in her periphery vision. She looked down, then scratched her head. 

With a sickly sweet voice, she said:

“Tracy, honey… What do you think you’re doing…?”

Tracy briefly looked up, but then just gulped and carried on with her grim endeavor - which was tying a whole lot of dynamite to Rosa’s belly.

“Don’t worry-s, boss”, Tracy whispered towards the bump, “I’m gonna bust-s you out!”

Rosa sighed and turned her eyes towards the ceiling. “We’re talking DYNAMITE, Roark.”

Roark chuckled. (“No need to tell me that. It’s ALWAYS dynamite with Tracy…”) Raising his voice a bit: (“Tracy! It’s OKAY! I don’t need to be rescued with dynamite right now…! You know what… scratch that. Rosa performs self-congratulatory rap in the shower each morning. Usually, her improv is on point, but when it isn’t, it REALLY isn’t. Do what you have to do.”)

“Oh ha-ha, Rosa said dryly. 

"We’re literally gonna DIE, buddy.”

(“Alright, alright…”)

After Tracy had run off with her... equipment, Rosa returned her attention to the trainer files. But not before taking a quick look at Tracy's personnel file...

Even without actually being able to read any of the documents himself, Roark seemed determined to treat this as just another day at the office.

("So, what I like to do i come up with a detailed battle plan, to play to the trainers' respective strengths, challenge them a bit on their current weaknesses...") 

Rosa smiled as she looked at the trainers' mugshots.

"Or, you know, I'm just gonna do the thing that actually makes sense in a pokémon battle, and make every decision on a case by case basis, depending on what they give me to work with. That's what it really comes down to, thinking on your feet, rolling with the punches. Improvising."

(“Ha! I know what your idea of improvising looks like…”)

Her face slid into the thousand yards stare.

“True, I have my own perspective on… improvisation. Expecting the unexpected.” 

She gently spun her hand around, as if rewinding a film roll. 

“A few years back, in another project, a co-actor of mine punched one of my front teeth out during what should have been a kissing scene. The damn thing flew right out of the set. Unsurprisingly, HE said it had nothing to do with me giving him lip during an earlier shoot. Basically, his exact words, before anyone even asked the question… The tooth grew back, but of course at the time neither he nor I could have known that I could do that. I cried a lot. I got… flowers. The director kept the scene, sold the thing as a practical effect. Made me sign something I didn’t even read. To be clear, buddy, I’m not trying to… "compete” with you, here” 

-she gestured towards her belly - 

“but yeah, I DO have a certain… perspective on flipping the script. Maybe I wouldn’t have, if that had been the ONLY incident… but you know what, on second thought,” she shook her head rather violently, “I don’t wanna talk about this all day. Don't know where that came from, all of a sudden.”

(“I… that sucks. I… I’m so sorry.”)

“Leave it, baby.”

~6~

Tracy was still pouting when they all sat down together in the central hall to have lunch. They had ordered enchiladas.

There was a bit of awkward silence. Rosa started to suspect that Roark didn't necessarily... connect with his crew all that well, at least Jonathon and Darius. He never once told her to pass something on to them, or tried to establish contact in any other way.

Rosa was about to drum up some small talk, when Tracy started fidgeting again.

"THIS IS WEIRD", the little girl blurted out, "How can you-s all act like this is normal-s? Why are we letting-s this happen? Why is the boss inside-s a lady-s?"

"Yeah, never thought the day would come", Jonathon said. He and Darius fist-bumped. 

Rosa narrowed her eyes. Maybe some disciplinary actions were in order.

"How did-s he end up like this?", Tracy insisted.

“Dude”, Darius said reproachfully, “how could you MISS any of this? You could piece together the whole story from the MEMES alone.”

“Uh!”, Jonathon intervened, “My favorite is the one they based on that secret recording from the original police interrogation. Where the police officer tells Roark to calm down, and he’s all like ‘I got. EATEN. Today!!’, in that really dorky voice?”

Rosa snorted. 

“Yup. That’s a classic, alright.”

Tracy frowned. 

“Sorry. Still NO idea what you-s are all talking-s about.”

Rosa loudly clapped her hands, making everyone flinch a little, and sighed theatrically. 

“Very well then. I guess I’ll have to convey it to you… in SONG.”

(“Oh no. Please don’t no.”)


	4. Vore And Loathing At The Oreburgh Gym (Part 4)

~7~

Rosa approached the climax of her song sitting on a beautiful black piano that Lenora the janitor had produced seemingly out of nowhere, basking in the gym’s floodlights.

„…And he could only stammer/

And was !peeping! for his mama/

\- But TOUGH TIDDY, kid!/

‘Caus I’m your mama NOW!”

The others decided to join her, as a near immaculate chorus, swept up by her enthusiasm:

“She said: TOUGH TIDDY, kid!/

‘Caus I’m your mama NOW!”

The grand finale, Rosa sang with the deepest, most sultry voice that she could muster:

“I said: Tough Tiddy, kid…

‘caus… I’m… your… maaaaama

… Noooooooooooooow.”

~8~

(“NOT MY MAMA!”)

Lenora reset the gym lights.

With the exception of Roark, they all broke out into laughter. But even the former gym leader had to grin a little.

Rosa turned towards Tracy, and was glad to see the kid now looked at her in a different way, even giving her a timid little smile.

Clearly, all of them had benefitted from releasing a bit of tension.

Tracy even sat down next to Rosa for the rest of the meal.

“Mrs Gypaetus…”, Tracy finally asked, closely studying Rosa’s face, “I'm still wondering... how did you-s manage to swallow-s the boss? How did-s he FIT?”

Rosa winked. 

“Wanna see something cool…?"

Tracy nodded.

Rosa grabbed her lower jaw and jerked it around a bit. There was a subtle plopping sound, and suddenly, her jaw was resting in her hand. And she lowered her hand. Lower and lower. Her skin went along with it with perfect elasticity. She kept stretching, until her wide-open face was two feet long. Tracy was mesmerized.

Darius, who had been checking his phone, quickly looked over, nodded wisely, said “Yepp”, and fainted right where he stood.

~9~

When they walked out of the gym that evening, they found a reporter waiting for them at the entrance, a teenage girl with one of those "permanently exasperated" expressions on her face.

Tracy ran towards the girl with a wide grin. 

"Repa! You made it!"

Repa rolled her eyes. 

"It's local news, I suppose, the gym opening up again, so thanks for reminding me, Tracy. Also, hi Tracy. Mrs Gypaetus, I presume?"

Tracy gleefully grabbed the older kid's arm. 

"Repa is my cousin-s! She's a real journalist! She is a big deal at the 'Oreburgh Mirror'! And this is Rosa-s!" 

Repa looked down at Rosa's giant belly with a sneer, shaking her head. 

"Oh wow. This looks even more bizarre than I expected."

Tracy gasped. 

"You knew about this, too?"

"Hey, eyes up here, kid", Rosa snorted.

"Gladly", Repa said, steading herself. 

"So. The old Oreburgh Gym, under new management. You got any experience as a gym leader, Mrs Gypaetus...?"

"Well, I have TONS of experience WITH gym leaders", Rosa said cheerfully. 

Somewhat slower and in a more sinister tone, she added: "And with a lot of things you'd never even dream of. I'm confident I'll be able to... extrapolate." 

Repa sighed, clearly unimpressed, and scribbled something into her notebook.

"Also!", Rosa said, in a lot softer voice, "I got lots of help from my LOVELY local team, showing me the ropes."

She patted Tracy on the back, which made the kid grin as if she had just been promoted.

"Cute", Repa said. 

"Well, on the plus side, I get the sense that it can only go uphill from here... Do me a favor: if you mess this up, lady, do it in a way that is newsworthy? Like, not just regionally? Or shoot me. One of the two. Welcome to Oreburgh, Mrs Gypaetus." 

Yup, a real ray of sunshine.


	5. Vore And Loathing At The Oreburgh Gym (Part 5)

~10~

The next morning saw Rosa racing through her new home like a whirlwind.

In retrospect, making her world-famous pound cake for the gym staff and the contestants probably would have been a lot less stressful if she had decided not to sleep in, for once. 

In her defense, if it hadn't been for Roark's rude off-hand remark about her rapping skills, she wouldn't have been forced to stay up all night digging for her old rap videos on the internet.

"Crap, crap, crap, I forgot all about the cake…!”

Rosa sprinted into the kitchen, opened the oven, and prepared to grab the tray…

(“YOU DIDN’T PUT ON YOUR MITTENS”), Roark screeched.

Rosa was almost knocked off her feet. She gasped, her heart pounding.

“Roark…”

(“You would have burned your hands off, right there! You’ll be the death of me, woman, one way or the other!”)

“Okay, sheesh… thanks for the warning, I guess…”

Of course, in reality, she didn’t have to guess.

Rosa took a deep breath and focused before going for the cake again, this time with all necessary precautions.

~11~

Rosa glanced at her watch and groaned. Late again, after all that. Well, it could have been worse.

The substitute gym leader puffed her chest and looked at herself in the bathroom mirror. Changing in the gym’s combined bath- and locker room wasn’t especially glamorous, but it was better than disgracing THIS kind of outfit by running through town in it like a headless torchic. No, this was all about… gravitas. 

Today, she would shape a bunch of impressionable young minds… and Rosa was gonna milk it for all its worth.

~12~

Rosa stepped out onto the gym leader’s platform and gazed upon the three young trainers that had gathered below.

BABIES!

The lights were out up there, so they didn’t get a good look at her just yet.

She stepped on a pedal, and the two upright pipes that were connected to it, strategically placed to her left and right, started spewing flames, greatly startling the audience. One of the trio, a little girl even younger than Tracy, reflexively grabbed the arm of the slightly older boy next to her and squeaked.

Roark groaned one of his classic manish man-groans.

(“You actually went and did that cheesy thing with the fire, didn’t you. Holy depths.”)

Rosa giggled and turned on the floodlights.

Her mouth wide open, the little girl gawked at that lady in the titanic red and black dress who was towering above them on that platform like a gothic volcano with cold blue eyes. Rosa decided that this kid was her favorite. Not that the other two were able to hide their shock and awe.

“Welcome!”, Rosa said with a dramatic gesture, “to the OREBURGH CITY GYM! You have beaten my trainers, and now it is time for your FINAL battle. I am Rosa Rojava Gypaetus, champion of three Pokémon leagues, Slayer of the legendary Reshiram and Zekrom, Consumer Of The Flesh Of The Wastrel Men, world famous adventurer, rising movie star - coming soon to a theater near you! I also bake a mean pound cake. Ever heard of an "extinction event"? Those are usually my doing! Everything you’ve heard about me - EVERY. Single. Thing. Is 100% true. I am your GYM LEADER.”

-(“Substitute gym leader…”)

“If you wish to conquer the coal badge, you will have to challenge ME. Be smart, be decisive, be relentless…” 

She stuck out her chin. 

“And you may LIVE.”

Dun... dun... dun...!

At her command, Darius and Jonathon closed the doors to the gym with a thundering bang.

The little girl gulped, visibly frightened, but still awestruck by the apparition in front of her. The little boy next to her smiled timidly, a bit embarrassed about how much he was enjoying the show, but not embarrassed enough to hide it. The oldest of the challengers, a sixteen-year-old with a leather jacket, just rolled his eyes. Aha - too cool for school. Now Rosa knew who her least favorite one was.

~13~

The little girl was up first.

“Oh, very good”, Rosa said when her first fighter went down. “I think it’s time to make this a little more interesting, then… Let’s take THIS old girl for a spin…”

Roark flinched when he heard the nightmarish shriek.

(“Wait… Is that…?”)

“AERODACTYL! Haha! FLY, my pretty!”

(“From the VAULT?”)

“How many forbidden aerodactyls do you have…? Honest question, because I want them ALL.”

(“Dammit, Rosa!”)

~14~

After a few hearty kicks to the liver, Roark got Rosa to call a time out.

The little girl had lost two fighters in the blink of an eye.

(“First of all, Rosa, WHAT WAS THAT? Rhetorical question, I think I can reconstruct that battle from the screams alone. The screams are probably going to follow me into my nightmares, Rosa. I think I PEED a little, Rosa!”)

“Stop being so melodramatic” Rosa groaned, desperately trying to mask that she was reasonably shaken herself. 

“Aerodactyl did her job, is all. And I’m just doing mine.” 

She gulped. “That thing is pretty cooperative, too, considering she’s a delinquent and all.”

The aerodactyl was roosting on a big rock nearby, eyeing Rosa, probably deciding that she was too big to swallow, with the big belly. Plus, the flashy warning colors of her dress suggested poison. Thus, the pokémon turned towards the rest of the gym staff, who were cowering behind another set of rocks. The fossil creature started licking its lips…

(“There is no sugar coating it, Rosa. You need to turn it down a notch. Remember when we looked at her file earlier? This is an early gym for her. Kid has already lost one gym battle, dropped out, now she’s trying again, with a fresh start. She needs a WIN. She’ll be devastated! WHAT did I tell you about ROOTING for them?”)

“You TOLD me they were supposed to EARN it!”, Rosa snapped, “NOW you tell me I should just straight up let them win.” She sighed. “I get it. That whole thing about everyone having different perspectives. Me, I’m a CHAMPION. I do battle, and may the best fighter win. It’s what I do. You’re a gym leader. Of sorts. You lose. You lose to make others feel better about themselves. That’s all you know how to do. That’s your whole deal. I get it.”

That stung, but Roark tried not to show it - though Rosa could still tell by his voice, with some dark satisfaction. She hated being on the defensive.

(“… It’s not about any of that. She’s supposed to apply what she has learned so far, and be rewarded for it, so she can move on…”)

Absent-mindedly, Rosa watched Jonathon and Lenora try to initiate the Heimlich maneuver on the aerodactyl, which was currently busy choking on Darius. Tracy was already preparing the dynamite... 

She shook her head.

“I decide what she needs to know to move on! ME. However you handled this sort of thing in the past, I’m the teacher NOW.”

(“…She’s a CHILD, Rosa.”)

“So what”, Rosa snorted, “I was a child, too, when I started fighting.”

(“But you’re not a child anymore!”)

Rosa threw up her hands, exasperated. 

“What do you want from me, Roark? It was basic Squirtle-Bulbasaur-Charmander stuff. Kid got a Level 15 joltik on her team. Risky, but a real opportunity regardless. It was wide open. It’s not my fault she didn’t see it.”

(“People have different definitions of ‘basic’. You sent her a real MONSTER.”)

Rosa repressed the urge to say something about LIFE throwing monsters at little girls. Instead, she said:

“Exactly! It will be HARD, and SCARY, she’ll apply a pretty straightforward strategy that a great trainer should be able to figure out, make some sacrifices, and if she wins, it’s a victory she’ll never forget. ”

(“But not if she LOSES! What’s going to happen once you wipe the floor with her? After her previous defeat? Will there even be a third time? Ever thought about that?”)

Rosa shook her head. “I’m done talking to you. I’m gonna run this gym as I see fit. That is all…”

~15~

As the dust settled, and the sound system played the acoustic signal indicating the fall of a gym fighter, there were a few moments of startled silence.

(“She… she DID it!”), Roark gasped, (“The kid came through! … This is AMAZING! Mission status: SICK.”)

Rosa smiled, wistfully, as she recalled her battered aerodactyl. “Told you. That’s a victory she’ll never forget. And she’s earned it.”

(“I underestimated her. I really did. You were right, Rosa. How… how much HP does she have left, on her last one…?”)

Rosa checked the screen on her little console, with the estimates for the stats calculated based on data harvested by the gym’s multiple hidden sensors.

“Not a lot.”

(“Oh. Yeah. Figures…”)

Roark fell silent. Didn’t even dare to ask.

Rosa smiled. It was pretty straightforward, yet again. Against all odds, the little girl had defeated Rosa’s next-to last and would now be finished off by Rosa’s last fighter. A tale as old as time. Yeah…

Roark’s silence said more than a thousand words.

Rosa sighed and gently rubbed her belly. 

“I know, buddy. I know.”

She could feel Roark relax again.

A more… reserved final round, then.

~16~

The kid actually hugged Rosa after the battle, crying tears of joy. Gingerly, Rosa hugged her back.

“Good fight, kiddo. Good fight.” 

Rosa looked the little girl in the eyes and booped her nose. 

“Now, I’m gonna need you to be more careful next time, it was a bit touch and go, in the middle, but hey - you sealed the deal! You stood your ground. You were really clever. Keep going like that. You’ll be a master in no time. I’m… proud of you. Also, thanks again for... persuading aerodactyl to spit out our janitor.”

The kid nodded, laughing, then jumped right back at Rosa.

“Oh, another hug… Okay. Sure…”


	6. Vore And Loathing At The Oreburgh Gym (Part 6)

~17~

For the next fight, Rosa decided to run a fairly standard program, without the extreme ups and downs of the previous battle. The boy did okay, making it through with one and a half fighters standing.

And then they came to the last one, the sixteen-year-old.

He cracked his knuckles, grinning. 

“Welp, time for you amateurs to take a step back and see how a pro does it.”

He once again opened his jacket to flash his badges.

“I will show you a thing or two I learned over at the last gym I destroyed.” He nodded in Rosa’s general direction. “Might be interesting for you, Mrs. It’ll be, like, exchanging notes.”

Rosa started salivating and poked Roark rather rudely.

Roark laughed. 

(“Yeah… I got nothing. Go ahead and MURDER the little turd.”)

Rosa shook her head. 

“No, no… it’s gonna be a good, clean fight, everything by the books… Very educational.” 

She grinned. 

“And he’ll be a CRATER.”

~18~

Crater or not, the teen ultimately accepted a slice of Rosa's pound cake, at the post- gym picknick. He was still a bit wobbly from fainting, of course, but his appetite was encouraging. Jonathon would drop him and the other trainers off at the pokémon center, later on.

It was still cold outside, at this time of the year, but everyone was glad to get some fresh air on the benches behind the gym, none the less.

“Mr. Roark, Boss”, Tracy said. 

She was wistfully gazing into the evening sky, as Rosa sat behind her, humming gently, braiding the little girl's hair, the way she used to wear her own hair back when she beat the Unova League. 

“How do you-s poop…?”

(“Tracy, my child”), Roark said with a majestic voice, (“This, I will not tell you, and we shall never discuss the subject again. Just know that there is seemingly no limit to what the human mind can grow to accept as ‘normal’…”)

“Yeah, apparently, his poop is mostly liquid now” Rosa said, “and…”

(“NEVER DISCUSS THE SUBJECT AGAIN.”)

~19~

Jonathon had offered to drive her as well, but Rosa was in no hurry to get home, so she took the scenic route.

Roark had started babbling again. 

("This worked out pretty well, don't you think?"), Roark asked.

"Told you I'd make a great gym leader. Easy-peasy."

("Yeah, a bit rough around the edges, but with me as your mentor...")

Rosa stopped dead in her tracks.

"Mentor. You're kidding, right?"

("For the most part. But really, it has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? You as the feisty newcomer, me as the gym veteran, showing you the ropes...")

"Don't make me laugh. I needed the backseat lecturing of Roark of Oreburgh about as much as these ads for viagra that keep inexplicably appearing in the official gym leader mailbox…"

("Stop quoting that creepy obituary you wrote for me! Besides, now that you've taken me on board, you might as well listen to me, occasionally, take advantage of my... I mean, our combined knowledge. Worked out today, didn't it? You probably can't tell, because I can hide these things pretty well, but truth be told, I have been feeling kinda useless ever since... the incident.")

Rosa shook her head. Where to start with him?

“You know, that reminds me, I’m fed up with you always talking about “the incident” or using some other silly euphemism. Say what actually happened. Right now. Tell me what happened to you, you WIMP, I dare you. Just like in the meme.”

(“Roooosa…”)

“Ah, ah, ah! SAY it!”

(“Augh… I got… Oh, screw you.”)

“I’m waiting…!”

(“I got EATEN, okay! You. Ate. Me. Until I was all eaten up.”)

“See, was that so hard? And don’t you forget it.”

Roark knew that there was bound to be a follow-up.

Rosa switched to a weirdly philosophical tone. 

“See, I like to joke how this is just like a pregnancy, and you’re my baby, but let’s face it, you’re NOT my baby. You are my FOOD baby. You were my MEAL. And good, tasty food, all it does is that it provides nourishment as it smoothly travels downwards. So, we cool?"

She burped and slid into another voice imitation. 

"Are we clear on YOUR place in MY world?”

(“CRYSTAL.”) Roark said, sounding a bit tired.

The temperature of Rosa’s voice dropped quite a bit further, and she checked her nails again… in exactly the way that helped her put on an inscrutable face, and nail an indifferent tone. 

“Of course, I do LOVE you, buddy, with all my heart. Pack bonding is funny like that.”

(“Dammit, Rosa!”), Roark complained, (“I love you, too! You insufferable vore-gremlin.”)

“Oh, I know…”

Just another kind of pokémon: catching them is one thing, Rosa thought to herself. If you want to KEEP them, you've also got to make them YOURS. 

She blushed a little.

(“…What a weird, WEIRD tangent, all of that!")

It almost sounded as if Roark had read her mind: (“SHEESH. It’s like you’ve eaten me TWICE! In fact, not only have you totally STOCKHOLMED me - but you’re completely blasée about it! Like it was the inevitable outcome.”)

Rosa laughed. 

“I think we both know that it WAS… Do tell, what does the ‘Stockholm’ in ‘Stockholm Syndrome’ stand for, anyway? Since you enjoy infodumping so much.”

(“...The name comes from the famous case of Sven Stock kidnapping Tobias Holm, last century. Their attachment got so extreme the whole phenomenon was named after them.”)

“The more you know…”


End file.
